Aug 17, 2011 2:22 PM

The New England Storm Jr. Olympic Program is expanding, again! Originally, a North Shore based group, the Storm has grown to include players from 3 states and nearly 50 cities and towns! Our teams are now spread out among multiple communities. With that said, it is important to understand that Storm practices are held at various locations from Boston, up toward the NH border, and a bit westward. Practices are not strictly held on the North Shore.

The Storm will field teams from U10 - U23 in 2012. We have a coaching curriculum that all coaches are required to follow. The majority of Storm coaches have been with our program for multiple years, which brings stability. Also, we have a few former Storm players, currently playing in college, who have returned to the field as assistant coaches. They know the Storm philosophy, are solid role models, and help discuss the role of playing college ball, while still focusing on their education.

During the past 2 years, Storm graduates are receiving nearly $925,000 of athletic funding at area colleges.

Our relationships with many of these college coaches continues to grow! We now receive phone calls on a regular basis asking which players they should be looking at.

Also, this past off-season, the director, John Gambale, was offered a position to be 1st assistant coach with the Worcester Hawks, a true U18 GOLD team, coached by the legendary Ralph Raymond of Worcester. Ralph was the head coach of the first 2 U.S. Olympic softball teams in 1996 & 2000. Both teams were gold-medal winners! John was able to spend a few months practicing with Ralph, and bringing those skills back to the Storm program. Although John had to decline Ralph's offer, the 2 remain as friends, and still discuss potential players for Ralph's squad.